Police investigate 'drunk' nine-year-old

Police say they are appalled that adults supplied a young
boy with alcohol and even more concerned he was re-victimised
when footage of his antics was posted on YouTube.

Police went to the Fairfield skate park on Clarkin Road
yesterday at 6pm after receiving several calls from concerned
members of the public about a drunk nine-year-old boy, said
area commander Inspector Greg Nicholls.

A video, posted on youtube last night, shows the intoxicated
boy slumped against a wall at the skate park.

Police told a press conference today the boy had drunk eight
cans of seven per cent Cody's RTD bourbon and cola and two
shots.

By the time police arrived at the park the boy had scootered
home where they spoke with his understandably distraught
mother, Mr Nicholls said.

He was appalled by the incident and said an investigation was
underway into the adults who supplied the boy with alcohol.

"I see the drunken activities of adults who one would think
could make good choices in life."

"But to have a vulnerable young boy consuming alcohol is very
appalling."

The person shooting the video can be heard saying "what are
you doing ?" before getting the reply "he's drinking G, he's
allowed".

In the video, the person recording the incident says "he's
like eight you dumb b****, he could die" before the boy tries
to ride off on his scooter.

The young boy, who said an aunt gave him the alcohol and also
revealed his name, later boasted "I do smoke weed" before he
becomes agitated and tells the person shooting the video to
"f*** off".

A man claiming to be the little boy's brother says "bro, it's
all good ... I've been drinking since the age of nine".

Mr Nicholls said the boy was not related to the "aunty" and
the man was not his brother. He described the boy's home life
as stable and caring, but CYF had been contacted to provide
any support the family may need.

He said police were considering charges under the sale of
alcohol act, but "the spirit of the legislation around the
supplying of alcohol to minors never envisaged an adult
supplying alcohol to a 9-year-old child."

"If our actions are draconian, that's where it will rest."

Mr Nicholls said while there was no culpability on the part
of the man who posted the footage, he pleaded with him to
remove it from YouTube, as the footage violated the privacy
of the young, vulnerable boy.

The man who shot and posted the video to YouTube, scooter
rider Bradley Goudie, 18, said there was little point to
removing the footage now.

"... all of the news media has already exposed it so widely
anyway, so there's not really much point in trying to hide
the video anymore."

Mr Goudie said he posted the video online because he wanted
to highlight the issue.

"It is the first time I've seen anyone so intoxicated," he
said.

"Basically I was just concerned about his safety because he
was trying to hop on his scooter and ride around the bowl.
And alcohol and physical activity do not mix - especially
when you're only 9-years-old."

There needed to be security and regulation at skate parks
that saw this kind of behaviour, he said.

"I've seen people boosting up and down the pipe with
motorbikes, and people smoking drugs and stuff behind the
buildings, stuff like that, tagging, all the time," Mr Goudie
said.

"Cameras, police visits - anything like that could hopefully
help [that] kind of behaviour and maybe decrease it to some
certain level."

ej kerr, thanks for that, and no, NZ history has not escaped
me; however, there was no need to give a synopsis of it all.
You are right when you note that those behaviours are evident
'back then'. Let us put it in perspective though: it was only
the latter part of C19, with NZ being annexed to the Crown in
1840, then ruled from NSW for the first 14 years.

The thing is, the presence of culture is a constant: wherever
there is a collective of people, there is a culture that
develops; however, culture itself is not static and is
continually being remade. NZ culture was strongly remade
during the latter part of C20, in the wake of WWI,
Depression, WWII, then the Cold War era, following this, the
recognition of The Treaty and associated social issues -
these are still the main influences we see today. This is
what has shapes the country we live in TODAY.

Drinking has always largely been a part of our culture. As
you pointed out, this was present in colonial times. This
also has a connection with why it was that people came to NZ
in C19: freedom from religion was a main attraction; thus,
and although British culture was 'imported', there we
significant facets of it that were not. Consequently, NZ and
AUS have similar drinking cultures that are quite unique in
the world. Granted, a presence of this, in some form, can be
traced back to the formation (or colonisation) of both
countries, but it does not give us an EXCUSE to continue and
encourage it. Domestic violence and child abuse were also
prevalent (although not so obvious) a century or so ago, many
missionaries treated 'their own' and the people they were
helping/converting/etc. appallingly. Is that fact that it
happened 'then', meaning it is part of our 'culture', an
excuse to continue?

ajs says: NZ culture was formed, in C20,with the ideals of
'Rugby, Racing, & Beer' Oh dear, perhaps
search and read the pages of Papers
Past to discern the news stories and court sentences for
same behaviours (cultural...) in the good old swilling,
gambling and sportive times of nineteenth century colonial
settlement.

Hype.O.Thermia, you have got it in
one. That was my exact point. Not every NZr drinks to excess,
in fact most don't; however the culture we have applauds
such open displays of drinking.

Sure, in Germany, people drink to excess, but not in the same
way, or in the same vein. NZ culture was formed, in C20,
with the ideals of 'Rugby, Racing, & Beer', and this has
only changed by degrees. A quick summary of
the alcohol related incidents/crimes/accidents/violence
in New Zealand, and a comparison with other western
countries, makes interesting reading - we have a problem.
Regardless of any 'measuring up' againts other countries, we
still have a problem.

Ajs, regarding your allegation that "Germany [has] alcohol
available 24/7, just because it is available, does not mean
that the individual has to drink until absolutely blotto" I
can't help wondering where you've been and who you've
discussed this with. I know NZers who never drink alcohol,
they don't want to. The majority of NZers drink some
alcohol and of those who drink at all, many get a bit tipsy
once in a while where "tipsy" is far less than fighting
drunk, car-crashing drunk or puking drunk. And once in a
while, in this context, I define as frequency between once a
month and once a year. What is more, most of them got
disastrously messily drunk when they were young and
don't want to repeat the experiment, it's an unattractive
part of growing up like pimples.

The vast majority of NZers do not "drink until
absolutely blotto". On the other hand if you talk with
a few Germans you'll find that in your country of ideal
attitudes there are some people who "drink until
absolutely blotto", just like Kiwis. I think where we
go wrong is that some sectors of society applaud prolonged
adolescence - messy drunkenness. Others - the various
groups I chose to mix with over several decades of moderate
drinking - would help someone who got drunk, keep them away
from the car keys, get them home or provide a place to sleep
it off. But they did not treat the drunk person as if he/she
had done something clever or funny and repeated behaviour of
that kind tended to result in the person not being included
because she/he was not prepared to "act civilized".

Hi Trev, what I said was that you cannot legislate social
problems, then I clearly stated that drunkenness is not a
social problem in and of itself; so no, that is no what I
said at all.

You are very correct in what you say with regard pubs and the
like, but the crux of this issue is this: pubs would not stay
open late and supermarkets would not sell alcohol if there
was no call for it. The call for this comes from consumers,
hence the push for sales and opening hours. In saying that,
and as I pointed out in my earlier example of Germany that
have alcohol available 24/7, just because it is available,
does not mean that the individual has to drink until
absolutely blotto. We do it, because it is part of NZ culture
that is being passed on to kids, who then do it.

Consider domestic violence. The violence itself is not
the issue, however nasty and destructive it may be - punish
the perpetrator and they more often than not re-offend.
The issue, or social problem, is men's attitudes
toward women (or, in reverse) and, in fact, other human
beings in general. These attitudes are causative in a series
of bad decisions that lead to domestic violence. The social
problem is these attitudes that are all-too common
- even in the face of copious additions to legislation,
beginning with the Crimes Act amendments in the mid-1980s, it
still happens.

Binge drinking is the same: what are the attitudes of
many NZrs that make it OK to drink to excess, drink-drive,
fight when drunk, supply kids with booze, and encourage (or,
in many social situations, practically force) others to
attain the same levels of intoxication? When sports
stars get into a skirmish, where are they? Generally in a
bar, or on the street after a 'night 'out'. Why are we so
abhorrent when drunk kids make it into the news? Kids reflect
the attitudes of adult society.

ajs: You say we cannot legislate against "drunkeness",
however, over recent years we have legislated a softly,
softly approach to anything relating to booze. Drunks are
easily "diverted" - a wet bus ticket. Drunk in public is not
a crime? Pubs are now permitted to stay open all hours.
Supermarkets can price-cut booze to very low cost. Alcopop
booze appears designed to get people drunk fast at low cost?
There is no anti-booze TV advertising campaign as per
smoking. Booze businesses can sponsor sport - but not
cigarette makers. The foreign owned big breweries have both
National and Labour parties well in their pockets. So how do
you change a booze culture to something more civilized?

Hype.O.Thermia, thanks for quoting me, but you missed the
entire point. 'Drunkenness' is not a social problem, but the
attitudes that lead to drinking to excess are. 'Doing
something' is not a physical 'activity', like giving to
charity once a year and thinking you've made a big
difference. How did women gain more status within a
white, male, patriarchal society? Among others, feminists
bought issues to the attention of society and, within many
areas, attitudes changed. Germany has alcohol available, even
hard liquor, at places such as news-stands. Alcohol is
available 24 hours a day, every day; yet, they do not have a
drinking problem.

Why? because excess drinking is shunned within German
society. In good ol' NZ, it is celebrated. This is the exact
point of the we. You cannot legislate social change. How do
kids learn to binge drink? Because of the social attitudes
that we pass down. And you know what? if everyone was
"well-meaning socially-concerned", we would be a lot better
off, we would know our neighbours, watch out for each other,
and stop being so damn disconnected. What should we do? Start
actively shunning undesirable traits, instead of driving past
and simply judging those 'undesirables' who apparently
exhibit them. Stop 'burying our collective heads in the sand'
and pretending that 'someone else' is going to shape our
society. We all live in it, take some responsibility for the
welfare of everyone.

Drunkenness "is a social problem ... The only ones that can
make it happen are 'we' - every single one of 'we'." I
am uneasy when the well-meaning socially-concerned proclaim
that something is OUR problem and each of US should do, ah,
um, something (unspecified) to solve it. Locally we
should "support" the Fubar Stadium - by saying enthusiastic
words about it even if we don't believe them? By going
to events that do not interest us? We should prevent
child abuse - including those of us who never abused a child,
or have no close contact with children, or are not aware of
any mistreated children in our extended family, friends,
neighbourhood? Please - what should we do, call
children to us in the street and examine them for bruises,
interrogate them about how life is treating them? Risky
for us, unsettling at best for them. Now drunkenness is
something else dumped upon my shoulders since we (including
me, surely?) should "address this issue".

None of these people who call for mass activism ever specify
how we should go about achieving the goals. Just once,
please! Ajs, you're the most recent of the we-callers,
how about responding with a How-To For Dummies like me?

Really? Which ways are these? This sort of things - teens
drinking, fighting, dying - happen continuously in this
country and are increasing in frequency at an alarming rate.
The youth culture, coupled with increasing technology, is
advancing in ways that we just cannot get to grips with. The
old methods do not work anymore. If you can provide some of
these effective 'ways', then that would be nice. In the
meantime, Mr Goudie clearly did what he thought he could and
what would be effective - looks like he was right - and he
should be applauded for not just walking away and forgetting
about it like so many people do.

Incidentally, the event was already in a public domain - a
skate-park - before he posted it. Perhaps an international
shaming will wake up NZ adults to this apalling behaviour. WE
all accept it, because WE see it, walk by, tut-tut to
ourselves when reading about it, but don't DO anything about
it. It is a social problem: not a police issue, not a
parents issue, and not a call for more laws, but a call for
behavioural change from within our society. The only ones
that can make it happen are 'WE' - every single one of 'WE'.
Mr Goudie did something. To every person who disagrees with
what he did, the question is: what have YOU done to address
this issue? Because it is not new.

Sad event, life as always from the beginning of history,
bandwaggoning, teetotaling. Police jump at an opportunity for
stronger intervention options that impact on the majority of
NZers who are responsible people. One off incident! -
overreaction pumped up by the media.

The young man who took that video is to be applauded for
putting it up, here was a young man trying to help this kid,
not laughing or putting him down but I feel concerned even
worried, to say the nine year old is being revictimized is
stupid, too late for that maybe getting a look at how
pathetic he is acting might make him change his ways?

He is just a nine year old in a bad environment with others a
product of how they have learnt to live. To me this
highlights the society we live in where 18 year olds in
general don't gave enough brain cells to think about
supplying alcohol to minors, hence we have out of control
youth. As a country we really need to look at how we can
improve the way we think and act with alcohol - it really is
out of control.

Mr Goudie if you want to highlight issues for young people
having been supplied alcohol by supposedly responsible
adults, there are better ways of doing that than posting an
online video. To say that there is no point in removing the
video because it is already in the public domain is not a
reason. This is a 9 year old kid and while there are
questions to be answered about who was looking out for him
during this whole sorry episode, posting a video exposing him
on a public domain suggests a lack of consequential thinking
on your part. The involvement of the police is absolutely the
right thing to happen, but that could happen with out an
online video.